Michael Spinks, a native of St. Louis, Missouri, is a former boxer. He is regarded as one of the great Light Heavyweight champions in boxing history, and went on to become the first Light Heavyweight champion to capture the Heavyweight title. His nickname, Jinx, rhymed with his last name, and his right hand also earned a nickname: The Spinks Jinx. His brother, Leon Spinks, beat Muhammad Ali for the world's Heavyweight championship, and the two are the only brothers in boxing history to have both captured the Heavyweight title. July 13 is the 194th day (195th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 171 days remaining. ... 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Gateway Arch, shown here behind the Old Courthouse, is the most recognizable part of the St. ... State nickname: The Show Me State Official languages English Capital Jefferson City Largest city Kansas City (largest metropolitan area is Saint Louis) Governor Matt Blunt (R) Senators Kit Bond (R) Jim Talent (R) Area  - Total  - % water Ranked 21st 69,709 mi²; 180,693 km² 1. ... Joe Louis and Rocky Marciano at Madison Square Garden, 1951 Julio Cesar Chavez and Ivan Robinson at the Staples Centre, Los Angeles, 2005 Amir Khan of Britain and Mario Cesar Kindelan Mesa of Cuba at the Athens Olympics, 2004 Boxing, nicknamed the sweet science and also called pugilism or prizefighting... In boxing, the division between heavyweight over 175 pounds (79. ... Heavyweight is a division, or weight class, in boxing. ... Leon Spinks is a former boxer who tasted lifes highs and lows more than most other boxers. ... For other people with similar names, see Muhammad Ali (disambiguation). ...

Spinks had a 93-7 amateur boxing record, with 31 wins by knockout. He won the Gold medal at the Olympic Games of 1976 in Montreal, Canada. Joe Louis and Rocky Marciano at Madison Square Garden, 1951 Julio Cesar Chavez and Ivan Robinson at the Staples Centre, Los Angeles, 2005 Amir Khan of Britain and Mario Cesar Kindelan Mesa of Cuba at the Athens Olympics, 2004 Boxing, nicknamed the sweet science and also called pugilism or prizefighting... The Olympic Games, or Olympics, is an international multi-sport event taking place every four years and comprising summer and winter games. ... This article needs cleanup. ...

Spinks then turned professional with a win over Eddie Benson, knocked out in one on April 17 of 1977 in Las Vegas. Spinks began with that, a 31 fight winning streak that would almost extend to the end of his career. After four more wins, Spinks finished '77 with the first fight that began a gradual ascent in opposition quality: an eight round decision over Gary Summerhays, a popular young boxer of the time. April 17 is the 107th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (108th in leap years). ... This article is about the city of Las Vegas in Nevada. ...

In 1978, Spinks won two fights, including an eight round decision over former world Middleweight title challenger Tom Bethea, in the same undercard where his brother Leon dethroned Ali as world Heavyweight champion in Las Vegas.

1979 saw Spinks get less than three minutes of boxing action inside a ring, with his only fight ending in a first round knockout of Marc Hans, but in 1980, Spinks took his ascent towards the top to another level, when he beat future world Super Middleweight champion Murray Sutherland, former world Light Heavyweight champion John Conteh and fringe contenders Ramon Ronquillo and Alvaro Yaqui Lopez (who challenged for a world title no less than four times). Of his five wins that year, 3 came by knockout, Sutherland and Johnny Wilburn being the only ones who lasted the distance. Knockout (K.O.), or simply knock, is a winning criterion of many ring sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai and others. ... John Conteh (born Kirkby, May 27, 1951) was a British boxer and former world Light-Heavyweight boxing champion. ...

By 1981, Spinks was already a top ranked contender, and after beating former and future world Light Heavyweight champion Marvin Johnson by a knockout in four rounds, the WBA made Spinks their number one challenger, and so, on July 18 of that year, he met WBA's world Light Heavyweight champion Eddie Mustafa Muhammad, once again in Las Vegas. Spinks dropped Mustafa Muhammad in round 12, and went on to become world Light Heavyweight champion with a 15 round decision win. He defended the title once in '81, beating Vonzell Johnson by a knockout in seven. Nicknamed Pops, Marvin Johnson was a Indianapolis, Indiana native was a boxer who fought in the 1972 Olympics in Munich, winning a bronze medal, and made his way up the professional ranks in the light heavyweight division soon thereafter. ... World Boxing Association (WBA) is a boxing organization that sanctions official matches, and awards the WBA world championship title, at the professional level. ... July 18 is the 199th day (200th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 166 days remaining. ...

After four successful defenses in 1982, including a knockout win in eight in a rematch with Sutherland, Spinks had become a superstar, if at least in the boxing world. He began appearing on the covers of all boxing magazines, such as KO Magazine and Ring Magazine, and boxing fans started clamoring for a unification fight with WBC world champion Dwight Muhammad Qawi. Tragedy struck his life, however, when in January of 1983, his girlfriend died in a car crash, leaving Spinks the single parent of his three year old daughter. KO Magazine is a popular United States boxing magazine. ... Front cover of the first issue of Ring Magazine Ring Magazine is a boxing magazine that was first published in 1922. ... The World Boxing Council (WBC) has operated since 1963 as a competitor to Venezuelas World Boxing Association (WBA) and, according to its founders, a way to improve professional boxings standards. ... Dwight Muhammad Qawi (born January 5, 1953) is a former world boxing champion in the light-heavyweight and cruiserweight divisions. ...

Meanwhile, the fight all the fans wanted was being asked for by boxing critics and magazine editors too. And finally, on March 18, two months after his girlfriend's death, Spinks and Qawi met in a boxing ring. The fight was broadcast by HBO Boxing, and, according to the book The Ring: Boxing In The 20th Century, Spinks had a very tough moment to overcome before it even started: His daughter asked him, while he was in his dressing room, if her mother would come to watch the fight. Spinks almost broke in tears, but soon had to recover and get into the ring, where he and Qawi fought to unify the crown. Spinks was floored in round eight, but he got up and won a 15 round majority decision to become the undisputed world Light Heavyweight champion. He defended the title one more time before the end of the year, against Oscar Rivadeneira in Alaska, whom he beat by a ten round knockout. March 18 is the 77th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (78th in leap years). ... HBO Boxing is a successful TV series that has shown many of boxings greatest fights and historic events during the last 30 years. ... The Ring: Boxing the 20th Century is a book that was published in 1993 by Ring Magazine editors Steve Farhood and Stanley Weston. ... Oscar Rivadeneira was a Peruvian boxer, who fought with Michael Spinks in 1983 for the Light Heavyweight champion and he beat by a ten round knockout. ... State nickname: The Last Frontier, The Land of the Midnight Sun Official languages English Capital Juneau Largest city Anchorage Governor Frank Murkowski (R) Senators Ted Stevens (R) Lisa Murkowski (R) Area  - Total  - % water Ranked 1st 663,267 mi² / 1,717,854 km² 13. ...

Spinks fought only once in 1984, retaining his crown with a 12 round majority decision over Eddie Davis. He and Qawi were only a couple of weeks away from fighting a rematch in September of that year, but that fight got called off when Qawi got injured during training. Eddie Davis is the name of: a heavyweight boxer a jazz tenor saxophonist (Eddie Lockjaw Davis) This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...

In 1985, Spinks beat David Sears and Jim McDonald, both by knockout, in title defenses, before challenging Larry Holmes for the world's Heavyweight championship in a fight recognized by the IBF. Holmes was trying to tie Rocky Marciano's record of 49-0 as the Heavyweight champion with the most fights undefeated, but it was Spinks who made double history that night, winning a 15 round split decision and becoming the first world Light Heavyweight champion ever to win the world Heavyweight title after being Light Heavyweight champion. With this, Michael and Leon had also become the first pair of brothers ever to be world Heavyweight champions. The fight was, once again, broadcast by HBO. When Michael became a world Heavyweight champion, he became a household name, being featured in Budweiser commercials and making cameo appearances in different Hollywood movies. Larry Holmes is a former world heavyweight boxing champion considered one of the fiercest fighters in the history of heavyweight boxing. ... The International Boxing Federation, or IBF, is one of many organizations which sanction championship boxing bouts, alongside the WBA, WBC, WBO, and a dozen or so others. ... Rocky Marciano and Archie Moore at Yankee Stadium, New York City, 1955 Rocco Francis Marchegiano, better known as Rocky Marciano, (September 1, 1923 – August 31, 1969), was an Italian-American boxer. ... HBO (Home Box Office) is a premium cable television network. ... The packaging plant at the Anheuser-Busch headquarters in Saint Louis, Missouri. ... ...

In 1986, Spinks and Holmes went to an immediate rematch, and had the same result, Spinks winning by a 15 round split decision. After that, he retained the world Heavyweight championship once again, by a knockout in four against Stefan Tangstad. In 1987 he was stripped of the crown by the IBF for refusing to fight their number 1 challenger, Tony Tucker, and accepting a higher offer to fight Gerry Cooney in a non title bout instead. Spinks knocked out Cooney in five rounds, and, after Mike Tyson had unified the Heavyweight belts (including Spinks' IBF belt, which Tyson took away with a twelve round decision over Tucker, who had become world champion when he beat James Buster Douglas), fans started clamoring for a superfight between them. Steffen Tangstad (born June 22, 1959) was a professional boxer who fought Michael Spinks for the IBF Heavyweight title on September 6, 1986. ... Tony Craig TNT Tucker was a professional Heavyweight boxer during the 1980s and some of the 1990s. ... Gerry Cooney (Born August 4, 1956) was a boxer from Manhattan, New York, who carried, perhaps on the same level as Max Schmeling, what could have been one of the unfairest labels in the history of boxing. ... Michael Gerard Tyson, (born June 30, 1966, Brooklyn, New York, USA) is a former American professional boxer and World Heavyweight Champion, and is considered by many to be one of the greatest and most feared heavyweight boxers of all time. ... James Buster Douglas (born April 7, 1960) was a heavyweight boxer from Columbus, Ohio who scored one of the biggest upsets ever in the sport by knocking out then-undefeated Mike Tyson in 10 rounds in 1990. ...

And so, in 1988, Superfight 88, Tyson Vs. Spinks, came. Tyson inflicted the first and only defeat on Spinks' record by knocking Spinks out in the first round.

After that fight, Spinks retired and never came back to boxing as a boxer. He is now a member of the International Boxing Hall Of Fame, and manages young boxers along with his former manager, Butch Lewis. The modern International Boxing Hall of Fame is located in Canastota, New York, United States, within driving distance from the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown and the National Soccer Hall of Fame in Oneonta. ...

Spinks had a record of 31 wins, 1 loss and 21 wins by knockout as a professional.

See also

• The Brawl for it All